US-OWNED MERCHANT VESSEL HIT BY HOUTHI MISSILE
▶ Iran-backed Yemeni rebels vow to continue strikes on commercial ships
Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck a commercial vessel in the Gulf of Aden yesterday, as the president of the country’s Southern Transitional Council called for a “comprehensive approach” to curb the Iran-backed group’s attacks on shipping.
The US-owned MV Gibraltar Eagle was hit by an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by the Houthis about 177km southeast of Aden, the US military’s Central Command reported.
“The ship has reported no injuries or significant damage and is continuing its journey,” said Centcom.
Aidarus Al Zoubadi, president of the STC, which controls much of southern Yemen and opposes the Houthis, called for the US and its allies to do more to stop the Houthi threat against shipping.
“The US air strikes in their current form are not enough. There should be a comprehensive approach, militarily, politically and economically against the Houthis,” Mr Al Zoubadi told The National at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“The way to address this is for there to be a comprehensive military operation that involves regional stakeholders to stop the piracy operation in the Bab Al Mandeb and importantly to support ground forces, STC and PLC [Presidential Leadership Council] forces, on the ground.”
Maritime security firm Ambrey said the Gibraltar Eagle was a Marshall Islands-flagged, US-owned bulk carrier, and confirmed three missiles had been fired, only one of which hit the vessel, starting a fire, but causing no casualties.
The attack followed days of heightened tensions as the US and Britain have conducted air strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen in response to the group’s months-long campaign of attacks against commercial vessels and US warships.
Britain and the US bombed more than 60 Houthi targets across 16 sites in Yemen on Thursday night, and strikes continued over the weekend.
The Houthis, who control much of northern and central Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, did not immediately claim the attack on the Gibraltar Eagle.
The group had vowed to retaliate after the attacks and appear to not have been deterred in their campaign, launched in November in response to the Israel-Gaza war.
“Attacks to prevent Israeli ships or those heading to the ports of the occupied Palestine will continue,” Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam said yesterday.
Ambrey said the Gibraltar Eagle was not assessed to be linked to Israel.
Earlier in the day, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appeared to rule out further air strikes in Yemen.
He said the attacks on Houthi bases were a “single, limited action” in self-defence, carried out with the aim of protecting international shipping.
“They fired on our ships and our sailors. It was the biggest attack on the Royal Navy for decades, and so we acted,” Mr Sunak said.
“It was limited, not escalatory. It was a necessary and proportionate response to a direct threat to UK vessels, and therefore to the UK itself.”
The US and its allies should increase strikes on the Houthis to secure international shipping and avert the spread of a regional conflict, the president of Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council has said.
Aidarus Al Zoubadi urged the US and its allies to support troops from his government in an anti-Houthi coalition – and take tough action against Iran.
In an interview with The National at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he said the Houthis have left the region on the edge of conflict, emboldened terror groups such as ISIS and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and left Yemenis across the country starving.
“The Houthi escalations in the Red Sea are unacceptable. Maritime navigation must be protected,” he said. “And the US air strikes in their current form are not enough.
“There should be a comprehensive approach – militarily, politically and economically – against the Houthis.”
Yesterday, UK Maritime Trade Operations, which works with Britain’s Royal Navy, said a vessel was struck with a missile 177km off the coast of Aden, which serves as the capital of the southern state. The US Central Command later said the Houthis were behind the attack.
“Attacks to prevent Israeli ships or those heading to the ports of the occupied Palestine will continue,” senior Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam said.
The US shot down a missile fired at the USS Laboon in the Red Sea overnight on Sunday, with no damage or injuries reported. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said the UK will “wait and see” whether to strike the Houthis again.
Speaking in Davos, Mr Al Zoubadi, who is also deputy chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, said the US has not co-ordinated strikes with his government – but urged decision-makers to back his troops. His government is comprised of forces linked to the STC and the PLC.
“There has been no co-ordination. However, secure maritime navigation is a responsibility that falls not only on Yemen, not only on the region but the international community,” Mr Al Zoubadi said. “The way to address this is for there to be a comprehensive military operation that involves regional stakeholders to stop the piracy operation in the Bab Al Mandeb and importantly to support ground forces, STC and PLC forces, on the ground.”
Only 32km across, the Bab Al Mandeb strait is the most vulnerable chokepoint for international shipping in the waterway, through which around 12 per cent of global shipping passes. Mr Al Zoubadi did not back US forces on the ground in Yemen – a measure already thought to have been all but ruled out by the US – but said support for his forces could tip the balance against the Houthis, who have Iranian-built cruise missiles and arms caches hidden across the country.
“When the Arab coalition was conducting air strikes in Yemen, there wasn’t really an effective ground force to supplement those air strikes and they were only successful in the south,” he said. “So what’s required is for there to be support on the ground for PLC forces to remove or to stop this Houthi threat. I’d also like there to be a long-term partnership with countries including the United States and the United Kingdom.
“We don’t just want to participate in a military operation, we want there to be a longterm partnership.”
A Saudi-brokered peace process to bring calm to a splintered Yemen has collapsed, he said. “The Red Sea escalations by the Houthis have essentially collapsed the peace process and the road map pushed by the Saudis,” Mr Al Zoubadi said.
While there has been much international media coverage of lost shipments, delayed car parts and the growing economic impact of ships being forced to sail around Africa to reach the Middle East and Asia, the people in both halves of Yemen face starvation, he warned.
“Most of the fuel, food, grain and basic necessities are imported. And it will affect all of Yemen, so if [the disruption] continues, it means death,” he said. The long-term goal of his government was two Yemeni states, Mr Al Zoubadi added.
“Our strategic goal is for there to be two neighbouring states and for the southern people to decide their own fate through a referendum – the right to self-determination is enshrined for all nations,” he said.
Mr Al Zoubadi warned that a long war in Gaza would only mean more recruits would flock to join terrorist groups.
His government is in Davos “to participate in the WEF and to represent the Yemeni delegation – to reinforce to send a message that we are with security and stability in Yemen. And that the Houthis are not peace advocates … they are a terrorist organisation and should be designated as such”.